Lubricating device



Jan. 27, 1931.,v 1.. BONHAM LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed Aug 23, 1926 fflrwlaz Patented Jan. 27, 1931 ora This invention relates to lubricating sysshaft carries a worm 13 enmeshed with a .teins for automobiles, of the type wherein wornrgear 14. This worm-gear lSlllQUlltvarious journals requiring lubrication are ed on a shaft which rotates in a bearing 15, connected by tubes to a supply of oil, a given secured to the crank case 10. The other end 5 quantity of oil being forced thru this system of theshaft, which shaft is not'seen, carries I of tubes periodically to lubricate the journals. sprocket wheel on which runs a chain l6. Lubricating systems of the kind referred This chain runs a sprocket wheel mounted to are not new. But the present invention on a shaft 17 projecting thru the wall of the is an improvementover previous devices of box 18, secured to the top of the reservoir 11. .the kind. One of the principal objects of my The two sprocket wheels are not shown in I9 device is to automatically distribute a ineasthe drawings, being concealed by the chain, ured quantity of oil among the several jourbut the chain sufficiently indicates how the nals connected to the system at predetershaft 17 is rotated by the cam shaft 12 of the mined intervals, and another principal object motor. is is well known, and is the uniis .to insure replenishment of the supply of versal practice, the camshaft is geared to the oil before there is any danger of the supply crank shaftof the motorand rotates in symbeconiing exhausted. Another object is to chronisin therewith, in the usual way. insure the cleanliness ofthe oil supplied to the Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, where the system. Still another object is to time the -fragments of the crank case seen in these periods when the device operates by the operfi ures are indicated by the numeral 10, it

ation of the automobile motor, so that the would be seen that the oil reservoir 11 con frequency with which the journals are hibrinected to the crank case by a vertical luct outed shall depend upon the amount the jour- The upper end of this duct opens into the nals have been used,n1easured.by the amount reservoir 11, and the lower end of the duct the motor has been used. connects to the crank case thru an opening or Ishall now descri-be niy invention in deport 21. Gil is poured into the reservoir tail, referring to the accompanying dr awthru a pipe 22 having a funnel shaped upper ing, in which, end 23. To replenish 216,011 n the crank Fig. l illustrates an internal combustion case the oil is poured into this funnel 23, motor of the kind used on automobiles, and it will be seen that no oil will reach Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the IllQCllElthe crank case until the 1SG1V;O1 1 11 1S pracnism of my device "for periodically sending tlcally filled with Oil Then o l ltroin the oil thru the system of tubes to the journals reservoir will overflow nto the duct 20 and to be lubricated. This view is supposed to enter the crank case thru the per 21. As show the parts as the observer would see the supply of oil in the crank case mustbe them were he in the crankcase of the motor. replenished more often than that 1 Most of the intervening wall of the crank reservoir 11, and as motorists are no r led case is broken away, however, to exhibit the to give proper attent on to the Oil n the t d crank case, or come to grief, it is seen that to Fig. is a view looking down into the box by compelling the motorist to {ill the crank containing the mechanism shownin the upper case thruthereservoir ll, an ample supply part of. Fig. 2, the cover of the be having of clean oil 1s nsured at arltnnes int-he reserbeen removed. As far as possible the drawvoir 11 ings are diagrammatic. The tube $0 connects to the syste noi tunes Referring first to 1, the crank whereby oil lsdistributed to theyarious ourof the motor is indicated by the numeral 20. nals to lubricated. As this systezn At the left hand side of the motor an oil tubes is no part of my 1nve on said as reservoir ll is cast or otherwise formed, in-

well known in the art, it 18 not necessary tegral with the crankcase 10. The cam for me to illustrate the tubes and journals.

h ft f th otor s .own at 12, and this Oil is drauu from the reservoir ll" by a in:

son therewith, is a pinion 48 which double acting pump 1 situated in the reservoir, and by means of mechanism which T shall presently describe the piston of the pump is moved downwardly periodically by power supplied by the motor, thereby expelling oil from the cylinder which was drawn in at the last up stroke of the piston. The piston is then freed from the motor and is raised by the spring drawing a charge of oil thru the intake The discharge pipe 30 is provided with a ccmoression chamber 34k, and it is to be understood that the pump is provided with the necessary and usual check valves.

J The disk as serve s as a back strap or yoke for a series ofelectromagnets .44, of which there are four in the present case. The poles of these magnets are enlarged by platestb, secured thereto. A stud a6 is secured in the wall ofjthe box opposite to that which carries the bearing ll), the a" of this stud being in alignment with the a of the shaft 17. stud is a disk 47, made of iron or steel, and fixed to this disk, so that it will rotate in unimeshes with a. rack l9, formed on the piston 500i he pump. Preferably, the coils ofthe electro-magnets 4A are connected in series and one end of this series is grounded by being connected to the plate 43 (Fig. 3), or some other portion of the metallic structure. The

' other end of the series is connected to-a ring 51, which is mounted on the hub of the disk 42, but insulated therefrom. A brush is pressed against the ring 51 by a spring, and

this brush is connected by a conductor 58 switch.

, the magnet becomes energized upon closing.

(Fig. with one terminal o l'of an electric (Fig. 2.) The other terminal of this switch, 55,.is connected by a conductor 56 to a source of current, in the present case a generator 57 (Fig. 1), which is operated by the motor thru a belt or chain 58. Tl e other terminal of the generator isgrounded on the frame of the generator in the usual way. Y

The poles or plates 45 are arranged to revolve quite close to the disk 47, and the disk is allowed a small amount of play 'parallel to the axis on which it rotates. Thus when r the switch, "the disk 4C7 is, attracted to the poles 45. and the disk become-s coupled to the poles magnetically; At the end of the firstrevolution of the disk 47, the switch is llTounted to rotate on this automatically opened and the disk thereby ind er, oil contained in the cylinder is forced out of the pump thru the tube 30 to'the various journals to be lubricated; Upon the release of the clutch the spring 82' returns the piston to its uppermost: position, which is that shown in Fig. 2. 1

I shall now describe the mechanism for automatically closing the switch at predetermined intervals during the operation of the motor. The disk 42 carries on its periphery a single tooth 60 (see Fig.- 2), and at each revolution of the disk this tooth engages in one of a plurality of notches 61 1n the per1ph-T cry of a wheel 62 an'dmoves said wheel a fraction of a revolution. Between'each two notches 61 the-periphery of the wheel 62 is curved to fit the cylindrical portion of the disk 42. Thus over-rotation of the Wheel 62 is prevented. In brief, the disk 4:2 and wheel 62 are in effect the first'and second members of a counter. In other words, smce the wheel 62 has ten notches 61, this, wheel is in effect .the tens wheel of a counter.

A wheel 68,

united to the wheel 62 by pins 64, and having a single tooth like that of the disk 42, meshes with a ten toothed wheel 65, similar to the wheel 62. A one toothed wheel166, united to wheel 65, meshes with aten toothed wheel 67, and a one-toothed wheel .68, united to wheel67, meshes with a'ten toothed wheel 69. Thus by a well known form of intermittent gearing, the shaft 17 is connected to the "wheel69, so' that thewheel 69 is rotated onetenth of a revolutioneach time the shaft 17 completes a predetermined number of revolutions. It is obvious, therefore, that the wheel 69' is rotated one revolution, step by step, during the time the shaft 17 rotates ten times said predetermined number of revolutions. In practlce I prefer to have the ratio of the worm 18 to theworm-gear ll-such that when the motor isrunningat about its average speed the shaft 17 will make one revolution each two seconds. With this arrangement 1t is seen that the wheel 62 turns one-tenthof' a revolution in one-fifth of a second. It will also be seen that when the time comes for the wheel 69 to: move, 1t also will turn one-tenth of a revolution inone-fifth of a second. In other words, for the time being the wheels 62 and 69 move inunison. The wheel 69 carries a stud of pin 7 O, which during one of the move-ments'of the wheel closes the switch.

, The wheels of this intermittent gearing rotate on studs 71 and 7 2, which studs are supported bya frame '73 attached to one of the walls of the box 41;

I shall now describe the switch and its operation. A horizontal rock shaft 80 in the upper part of the box 41, has secured to it an arm 81, which arm carries the metal blade 82 whereby the terminals Mend 55 of the switch are connected. The arm 81 may be composed oi insulating material, or, if the arm is metal, the blade must be insulated from the arm. An arm 83 is also secured to the rock shaft 80, the end of this armextending into the path of the pin 70, sotha-t during the movement of the wheel 69 onetenth of a revolution the pin 70 will engage and move the arm, thereby rocking the shaft 80 and throwing the switch blade 82 into the switch terminals 54 and55. In otherwords, during this particular movement of the wheel 69 the switch is closed, and it is seen that the closing of the switch is efl'ected' by power supplied by the motor. The relative positions of the pin 70, the axis 71, upon which the wheel 69 rotates, and the rock shaft 80, are such that by the time the wheel 69 has rotated the one-tenth of a revolution which closes the switch, the end of the arm 83 will have swung out ofthe path of the pin 70, and the pin will have passed beyond the path of movement of the end the arm, so that the pin will not interfere with the return of the arm when the switch is opened. The switch is opened by pin 84 A the disk 47, which pin engages the end of an arm 85 secured to the rock shaft The rock shaft 80 is moved somewhat farther tached to an arm 8'? secured to the rock shaft.

As is seen in'Fig. 2, the line of tension of this spring is above thecenter of the shaft 80,and tendsto move the arm 87 toward the stop pin 88 extending from the wall ofthe box 4-1. This spring also serves the purpose or" causing a quick opening of the'switch. Then the switch is closed the arm 87 is far enough down so that the line of tension of: the spring is slightly below the center of the shaft 80 "and therefore the spring tends, slightly, to keep the switch closed. It is not necessary to utilize tln spring in closing the switch, as one-fifth of a second, during which the switch is closing, is quick enough, considering the low voltage of the current employed. The stroke of the piston is sutlicient to cause the disk to rotate one revolution, and the parts areso proportioned that when the piston is in its upper-' most or home position the pm- 84 is where it appears in F 1g. 2, whlch is out of the path of is provided, whereby the switch can be closed by pressing down the arm 87 manually after the motor has started. This is to rejecting from the periphery of duced into the erabe used in case'the automobile has been standlng ldle ior some time and it is desired to lubricate the ournals at the beginning of a trip. If desired this button might derstood that the structure shown is merely illustrative of one embodiment of my invc-H tion. I have shown only one pin in the wheel 69, but two may be put in and the pump caused to act twice as often as when one pin is used. I like to provide Ior operating the pump at the end of each seventyfivemilesof travel of the automobile, but this varies changing the ratio of the worm gear l31 l. By connecting the electrical equipment of my device to the generator I avoid the possibility of 1n ury should the motor be stopped for a long time with the switch closed. In case it is connected to some constantly active source of current, for example, the battery of the ignition system, it should be connected behind the ignition switch, so it will he .cut off fromthe battery when the ignitionswitch is opened to stop the motor. l i

What I claim as my invention is as follows: I V i 1 1; In a lubricating system for an automomiletpropelled by an internal combustion motor having a crank-case to contain oil, which automobile has journals to be lubricated: a reservoir to contain oil, having a a pipe into which 011 is poured, and'havmg an overflow duct leadlng to said crank-case, this being the means whereby oil is introduced into the crank case, a pump whereby oil from cycles of operation, the pump being thereby set in operation a plurality of times during each period that the motor can safely be operated without replenishing the oil int-he crank-case.

2. In a lubricating system foran automobile propelled by an internal combustion motor hating a crank-case to contain oil, which automobile hasjournals to be'lubricated': a reservoir to contain oil, having a pipe into which oil is poured, and having an 1 overflow duct leading to said crank-case, this being the means-whereby oil is introease, a pump whereby oil from said reservoir is forced to said ion:-

electro-mechanical--means for open:

iLJ

v ating said pump, and means for setting said pump-operating means into operation for a predetermined number ofcycles of operaion, the pump being thereby set in opera tion a plurality of times during-each period that the motor cansafely be operated with out replenishing the oil in the crank-case.

3. In a lubricating system for an automobile prop'elled by an internal combustion motor having a crank-case to contain oil, which automobile has journals to be lubricated: a reservoir to contain oil, having a pipe into which oil is poured, and having an overflow duct leading to said crank-case, this being the means whereby oil is introduced into the crank case, a pump adapted to draw oil from said reservoir to be sent to said journals, means for operatin said pump, means for'setting vsaid pumpbperating means in operation each time the motor completes a predetermined number of cycles of operation, and means for limiting the duration of the pumps operation, the pump being thereby set in operation a plurality of times during each period that the motor can safely be operated without replenishing the oil in the crank-case.

4. In combination with an internal com-.

bustion motor, a reservoir adapted to contain oil, a pump adapted to draw oil therefrom, means comprising the motor for operating the pump, and means for connecting the pump to the motor intermittently, said means com-V prising an electromagnetic clutch, a train of gearing driven by the motor, and means whereby said gearing connects said clutch with asource of'electrica-l energy period ically.

5. In combination with an internal combustion motor, areservoir adapted to contain 'oil, a pump adapted to draw oil therefrom,

means comprising'the motor for operating the pump, and means for connectmg the pump to the motor lntermlttently, said means "comprising an electro-magnetic clutch, a

switch to connect said clutch to a source of electrical energy, a trainof gearing driven by the motor, and means whereby said train closes said switch each time the motor completes a predetermined number of cycles of the last member of said train, which for the time being is rotating at the velocity of the firstmembeigclosing said switch at the com- Hpletionof each cycle of said train. limited time each time said motor completes 7 In combination with an'internal combustionmotor, a reservoir adapted to contain p ap o rawoiltherefrom, -7 v means comprislng the motor for operating the'pump, and means for, connecting the l, pump to the motor intermittently,saidmeans comprising an elect-ro-magnetic ;clutch, a; switch to connect saidclutch to a generat'orofcurrent'driven by the motor, and atrain of intermittent gearing, the first member of which is rotated by the motor-,the lastmember of saidtrain, which, for the time being,

is rotatingat the velocity of the first mem ber, closing the switch atthe completion of means comprising the .motor for operating 'each-cycle'of said train. a 8. In combmationwith anmternal comthe pump, and 'means ,for connecting the Y.

pump to the, motor intermittently, said .means comprising an electro magnetic clutch, Z a swltch to connect said clutch-to a generator 1 of current driven by the motor, a tram of mtermittent gearing,the first member of which is rotated by the motor, the last member of said train, which, for. thetime being, is rotated at the velocity of the first member,

closing the switch at the completion of each cycle of said train, and means whereby the switchis opened bythe motor when the mo tor has operated a predetermined number of cycles after the'closing of the switch.

9. In combination with an internal com bustion motor, a reservoir adapted to contain oil, a pump adapted to draw oil therefrom, means comprising. the motor for operating the pump, and means; for connecting the pump to the motor intermittently, said means comprising an 'electro-magnetic clutch, a switch to connect said clutch to a source of a current, and atraln of lntermlttent gearing,

no i

the first member of which is rotated by the motor, the last member of said train, which,

for the time being, is rotatingat'the velocity V of the first member, closing the switch at the completion of each cycle of said train.

10. In vcomb nationwith an internal combustlon motor, a reservolriadapted to contain oil, a pump adapted to draw oil therefrom,

means comprising the motor for operating the pump, and means for connecting the pump to the motor intermittently, said means comprising an electro-magnetic clutch, a,

switch to connect said clutch to a source of current, a train of intermittent gearing, the.

first member of which is rotated by the motor, the last member of said train, which, for the time being, is rotating at thevelocity of the first member, closing the switch at the completion of each cycle of said train, and means number of cycles after the closing of the switch.

11. In a lubricating system for an automobile propelled by an internal combustion motor having acrank-case to contain oil, which automobile has journals to be lubricated: a pipe into which oil to supply the crank-case is poured, Which pipe leads to a reservoir, an overflow conduit in said reservoir leading to the crank-case, the reservoir retaining suifioient oil to lubricate said bearings a plurality of times, and means for periodically lubricating said ournals With oil from said reservoir.

12. In combination With an internal combustion motor having a crank-case containing oil, a reservoir having an inlet for oil and an overflow duct leading to the crank-case, the crank-case being thereby supplied With oil; a pump adapted to draw oil from said reservoir, means for operating said pump, and means for setting the pump operating means in operation each time the motor completes a predetermined number of cycles of operation, the pump being thereby set in operation a plurality of times during each period that the motor can safely be operated Without replenishing the oil in the crankcase.

LLEWELLYN BONHAM. 

